In the second of a three-game Massachusetts spring break road trip, Penn State men’s lacrosse rebounded from a loss to Harvard to edge Marist on Tuesday, 9-8.

Junior TJ Sanders tied a career-high with five goals, propelling the Nittany Lions (3-3) to their third victory of the season and second in the last three games after a two-game losing skid.

How It Happened

Penn State started the game on the offensive, spending the majority of the first quarter in Marist’s end. The Lions outshot the Red Foxes 14-5 in the opening quarter, but found themselves trailing 2-0 near the end of the frame. But the hard work would eventually pay off. Sanders scored his first goal of the game with 3:52 left to cut the lead to one and Matt Sexton scored less than two minutes later to pull even.

After Marist’s Joseph Radin tallied his third and fourth goals of the game to open up the second quarter, Penn State responded with five unanswered goals over the next 14 minutes to build a 7-4 lead. Sanders scored three straight to kick-start the run, with Sexton adding his second of the game and Pat Manley finding twine with 7:29 to go in the third period.

Sanders and Radin continued their assault on the opposing team’s net deep into the third period, trading goals just seven seconds apart following Penn State’s 7-2 run. After Sanders’ fifth goal gave Penn State an 8-5 lead, Radin notched his sixth of the game to cut the lead to one with 4:25 left in the third. Penn State’s Mike Sutton scored with 1:55 to go to retake a three-goal lead.

Unlike the high-scoring second and third periods, the final frame was a defensive affair. Marist added two more goals, moving within one of the lead with 6:32 to play. Behind the strength of Connor Darcey’s 10 saves, the Lions hung on for a 9-8 win.

Player of the Game

TJ Sanders. When you score nearly half of your teams goals, you know you’re doing something right. Perhaps even more impressive than the goals was the deadly shooting efficiency. Sanders fired 9 shots, with all five of his shots on goal finding twine. Not surprisingly, the Ontario native leads the team with 15 goals in just six games.

Game Notes

• Drake Kreinz was a big part of Penn State’s success, dominating the faceoff circle by winning 14-of-20 at the ‘X’. Junior Matt Sexton produced his first multi-goal game of his career.
• Penn State won the ground ball battle, 21-17, led by Kreinz’s seven.
• The Nittany Lions out-shot the Red Foxes, 35-30.
• Penn State finished 0-for-5 on the man advantage, while Marist scored just one goal in four opportunities.
• Tuesday’s game, held at Babson College, marked the only midweek match the Nittany Lions will play all season.

What’s Next?

Penn State will close out their Massachusetts tour at UMass on Saturday, March 14 at noon.